Imprint Fossil could be tens of millions of years old

Thursday 01 February 2018

A fossil imprint found on Guernsey's coastline by a local beach comber could be from the late Cretaceous period, according to a Geological-Palentologist from the Vienna Natural History Museum.

The object was picked up by Sam Reoch who said she found it washed up on the beach along the east coast during one of her regular walks.

Dr Andreas Kroh from the Vienna Natural History Museum said the imprint is of an echinoid, or sea urchin: "This is an imprint of an echinoid, likely of the genus Globator, as can be inferred by the position of the periproct, the nature of the pore zones, and the tuberculation. 

"The age is likely Late Cretaceous and I guess it is of glacial origin scene there seem to be no outcrops of Creteceous sediments on Guernsey."

Dr Kroh also added an image of the only representative known from the UK (above). He said it was hard to know if the Guernsey find is the same species but that it was "at least closely related".

Richard Lord, a Guernsey based marine biologist who contacted Dr Kroh about the find, said it was a great find, and he believes the object could have been formed anywhere from 100 to 66 million years ago.

Guernsey Museums is now looking to identify the object before it is put out on display in the island.